This is a 371 of international application PCT/JP98/02727, with an international filing date of Jun. 18, 1998, the disclosure of which is incorporated into this application by reference.
This invention relates to a component housing device usable for example as a container for housing a printed circuit board.
A housing container for printed circuit boards is used for housing a large number of printed circuit boards for storage in a warehouse, and for transporting a large number of printed circuit boards to an assembling line for electronic parts.
This sort of the containers for printed circuit boards is known for example, from the Japanese Laying-Open Patent S-58-125474.
A large number of printed circuit boards can be arrayed side-by-side by being fitted in grooves formed in the container. There is provided a stop bar for preventing the printed circuit boards housed in the container from being moved or popping out sporadically during transport. This stop bar, while being movable, has its movement halted by a spring and ribs.
For taking out the printed circuit boards from the container or housing the printed circuit boards in the container, this stop bar needs to be moved manually so as not to obstruct insertion or extraction of the printed circuit boards.
In the case of a fully halted stop bar not having this movable stop bar, there is required an operation of dismounting the stop bar from the container or securing the stop bar with respect to the container. The operation of opening/closing or mounting/dismantling the stop bar is an extremely time- and labor-consuming operation.
Although the container can be transported in a state in which the printed circuit board is not locked by the stop bar, there is raised in such case a problem that the printed circuit board tends to disengage from the container.
It is a frequent occurrence that a variety of sizes of the printed circuit boards are housed in this type of the container. If the size of the printed circuit board is smaller than the size of the container, it is desirable that a larger number of printed circuit boards be housed in the container. In a certain conventional container, a demand for housing printed circuit boards of narrower widths is met by moving a movable side member, with a reference side member remaining stationary, for producing a spacing matched to the printed circuit boards of the narrower widths, with the printed circuit boards of the narrower widths being housed in grooves provided in this spacing. This type of the conventional container cannot house a larger number of printed circuit boards of smaller sizes.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above problem and to provide a container in which components such as printed circuit boards desired to be housed are usually locked, where the locked state of the housed components can be automatically relinquished and where a larger number of components can be housed in an arrayed state.
The present invention provides a component housing device for housing a plurality of components side-by-side, including a support for housing the components side-by-side on inserting the components thereon, lock means for preventing the components housed in the support from popping out therefrom and a base member having unlock means for releasing, when the supporting member is set thereon, the state of the lock means prohibiting sporadic movements of the components housed in the support.
In the component housing device of the present invention, the support holds the components side-by-side. The lock means prohibits the components housed in the support from being moved out from the support. When the support is set on the base member, the unlock means provided in the base member releases the state of the lock means locking the components housed in the support against movements. This enables the lock means to prohibit the components in the housing device from being moved out from the housing device during normal use. If the support is set on the base member, the unlock means provided on the base member can release the state of the lock means locking the components housed in the support against sporadic movements.
In the component housing device according to the present invention, the unlock means includes a thrusting member adapted for thrusting the lock means on setting the support on the base member for holding the lock means in an unlock position which permits the components housed in the component housing device to be moved from a lock position prohibiting movement of the housed components. Thus, on simply setting the support on the base member, the thrusting member of the unlock means resets the lock means from the lock position to the unlock position.
If, in this case, the thrusting member is adapted to rotate the lock means to the unlock position to hold it in the latter position, the lock means can be easily moved from the lock position to the unlock position to hold it in this unlock position.
In the component housing device according to the present invention, the thrusting member can be moved and positioned on the base member. By enabling the thrusting member to be positioned, the thrusting member can be suitably positioned on the base member responsive to the size of the support or the position of the lock means to enable the operations to be performed for releasing the locking state of the lock means.
If, in the component housing device of the present invention, the base member includes positioning means, this positioning means can position the support with respect to the base member reliably when the support is set on the base member. This assures unlocking reliably.
In the component housing device according to the present invention, the support is made up of a first housing member and a second housing member, and the separation therebetween is adjustable to enable the components to be reliably housed therebetween in conformity to the size of the components to be housed in the component housing device.
In the component housing device of the present invention, the printed circuit boards can be inserted into grooves provided in the support to permit the printed circuit boards to be introduced or taken out by sliding along these grooves.
In the component housing device of the present invention, the lock bar can be positioned at the unlock position by, for example, the positioning means, while the lock bar can be held by the biasing means in the lock position. Thus, the printed circuit boards housed in the support usually can be reliably locked by the lock bar of the lock means. If the lock bar is moved to the unlock position, the components can be introduced into the space between the first housing member and the second housing member, or the components can be taken out from the space between the first housing member and the second housing member.
Also, in the component housing device according to the present invention, the unlock means for the base member can shift the lock bar from the lock position to the first unlock position. The unlock means of the base member can shift the lock bar from the lock position to a second unlock position further away from the lock position than the first unlock position to position the lock bar in this second unlock position. When the lock bar is moved by the first actuating member from the lock position to the first unlock position for positioning, the components can be taken out form or introduced into the support. Also, if the lock bar is moved by the second actuating member from the lock position to the second unlock position for positioning, the lock bar can be positioned at the second unlock position further away from the housed components. This desirably facilitates insertion or detachment of the components especially in case the lock bar is to be held for prolonged time in the unlocked state for testing the components.
The present invention also provides a component housing device for housing a plurality of components side-by-side, including a support having a first housing member and a second housing member which is adapted to hold the components side-by-side on introducing the components between the first housing member and the second housing member, lock means for preventing the components housed in the supporting member from popping out from the supporting member, a base member having unlock means for releasing the state of lock means prohibiting movements of the components housed in the support when the support is set on the base member, first connection means for upholding a separation between the first housing member and the second housing member of the support at a position, second connection means for upholding the separation between the first housing member and the second housing member of the support at a different position and space subdividing means arranged between the first connection means and t the second connection means for subdividing the space for housing plural components between the first housing member and the second housing member.
In the component housing device of the present invention, components are housed side-by-side in the support. The lock means prohibit the components housed in the support from being moved out of the support. When the support is set on the base member, the unlock means provided on the base member releases the state of the lock means locking the components housed in the support against sporadic movements. This enables prevention movement of the components housed in the housing device from the housing device by the lock means. If the support is set on the base member, the state of the lock means locking the components in the support against movement can be automatically relinquished by the unlock means.
The space subdividing means subdivides the space between the first and second housing members for accommodating plural components. By using this space subdividing means, even components of smaller size can be accommodated between the first and second housing members with the space subdividing means as partitioning means. That is, a larger number of components can be housed in the subdivided space, with the space subdividing means as a boundary, if the components are of smaller size.
In the component housing device of the present invention, the space subdividing means is detachably mounted under a biasing force between the first and second connection means. Thus, if the space subdividing means is not required, it can be easily removed from an area between the first and second connecting means. If the space subdividing means is used, it can be reliably mounted under this biasing force between the first and second connection means.
In the component housing device of the present invention, the space subdividing means is a rod which can be extended or contracted along the axial direction against the force of the biasing means. Thus, the space subdividing means can be pushed against the force of the biasing means in the axial direction so as to be mounted or dismounted between the first and second connecting means. By these first and second connecting means, the separation between the first and second housing members can be rendered adjustable to enable the components to be reliably housed in the support even if the components to be housed are different in size.
In the component housing device of the present invention, the first connection means has a positioning member for positioning an end of the space subdividing means and the second connection means has a positioning member for positioning the opposite end of the space subdividing means. Since the one end and the opposite end of the space subdividing means can be reliably positioned relative to the first and second connection means, there is no risk of the space subdividing means being shifted in its position in the support.
Also, in the component housing device of the present invention, the component is a printed circuit board, a first printed circuit board is inserted from one side of the support to compress against the space subdividing means and a second printed circuit board is inserted from the opposite side of the support to compress against the space subdividing means, whereby the printed circuit boards are accommodated in the support.